Ted Byers wrote:
Although I have been trying to grow orchis for close to a year, I just got
my first Paph. Sunday. I find the label hard to read, but it looks like
Paph. delenatii x moquetianum. It is the 'moquetianum' part of the name
that is particularly hard to read.
Paphiopedilum moquettianum. Some people know that as glaucophyllum v.
moquettianum, in which case your hybrid is Paph. Delophyllum. Some
people call it other things (chamberlainianum v. moquettianum, etc).
Personally I don't see much point in having them as separate species,
since if I can't reliably tell the difference it probably isn't that
important, but I'm not a taxonomist. Nice hybrid, regardless.
I find the anatomy a bit odd in
that I am not sure which are the petals and which are the sepals; and I am
not sure why I only see four rather than six petals and sepals (combined
total).
Paphs are a bit odd. And perhaps not quite orchids, but that is
another story. In a 'normal' orchid, you would see three sepals, two
petals, and a modified third petal (the lip, or labellum). In paphs,
the labellum is the pouch, or the slipper (Paphiopedilum = 'slipper of
Aphrodite'). Two of the sepals are fused into a structure called the
synsepal, it is located right behind the pouch and points down. The
dorsal sepal is the one that points up. The petals are what is left..
in this case they are pointing horizontally from the center.
When I showed this acquisition to one of the other vendors he immediately
recognised it, so I'd assume this cross is quite common, and he thought it
may have been a compot since there are two growing points, but he thought
they'e too far apart to be from the same plant. I think, though, that if it
was a compot, the smaller one is likely to be an inferios weakling because
it is much smaller than the one in bloom, although they both have five
leaves,with the one in bloom growing another leaf. Therefore, I think I'd
be happier if the smaler growth is just a new growth produced by the larger
one. If it was a compot, wouldn't they both be the same age and thus the
same size? But at that, he said the only way to know for certain is to
repot it, which I don't want to do until the last flower has faded.
Probably not. Some paphs have long stolons (rhizomes, whatever).
But this wouldn't be one of them. I'd say you have two plants. The
runt may or may not be inferior. Sometimes the best flowers are on the
runts. It will either die, or eventually grow to be indistinguishable
from any other adult plant. Not all plants out of the same compot grow
equally fast, it is just the way things are.
Both he and the vendour I bought it from said I should treat it like I treat
my phals, and that it probably wouldn't like the conditions my catts like.
Both said it is easy to grow. But this is not enough guidance. With only a
When in doubt, water it. That is in contrast to almost everything
else, where the rule is "when in doubt, don't". Other than that, less
light than your catts. Everything else is about the same. Paphs are
very easy once you have killed a couple... *grin*. Actually paphs are
very easy, and this hybrid is easier than most.
I have some questions about this paph. I see two flowers, with a bud
developing for a third. should I assume, then, that it is a sequential
bloomer? If so, about how many is it likely to produce. When it is clearly
done blooming, should the inflorescence be removed or will it rebloom on the
old inflorescence when it is ready to bloom again? Will it want to be
wetter or dryer than the phals, and will it like the same potting material?
Is it a terrestrial, like the related cypripediums, or an epiphyte like most
phals? Or something else?
Yep. Sequential bloomer. Don't cut the inflorescence until it
turns brown. Depends a lot on how big the plant is as to how many
flowers you will get. I'd say three is a good start and any more than
that is bonus. It will not rebloom on the spent inflorescence. You
need to get another fan of leaves to maturity (they spread out like
cattleyas, not up like phals) before it will bloom again. The bigger
the plant, the faster it will grow. Don't go out of your way to divide
it. Do go out of your way to repot it. At least once a year. Paphs
respond well to repotting (I wish I had time to do it more often).
Terrestrial is not quite what a paph is, depending on your definition.
In this case, they do typically grow on the ground, but not in the
actual dirt, rather the stuff that accumulates on top of the dirt.
Garden soil would kill your plant quickly. Many people use a fine bark
mix with other stuff (chopped sphagnum, perlite, charcoal, etc) mixed
in. You can almost always buy a pretty good mix, next time you go to a
show or sale keep your eyes open.
Rob (Paph-rat)
--
Rob's Rules:
http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit